Fun animals at Zoo Tampa in late February. The weather was cool so many of the animals were moving around. This was the first time in a long time I’ve seen the bears playing together.
The eagle was stretching and you can see he has part of his wing missing. He was injured out in the wild and lives at the zoo now. The other eagle was sitting high up in the tree looking over the zoo.
The lorikeets were all flirting and preening.
I can’t go to the zoo and not take a ton of manatee pictures.
I rarely see these guys moving around.
The koala bears are so cute but the glare on window makes it impossible to get a decent picture of them.
The elephants were eating.
It’s rare to see the otters close to the glass but this one was right in front.
The rhino pausing at the pool.
More up close with the manatees. I always take a ton of pictures when I’m there.
I recently hurt my shoulder (tendonitis) and was hurting one weekend but I still wanted to get out for a walk so I went over to the zoo with only my phone. I had a fun morning running around without all of my camera stuff.
It’s always fun to watch the orangutans playing at the zoo.
These ladies were not loving the paparazzi this morning.
More cute primates.
The elephants were busy eating.
I never see this guy moving around but he was the morning I was there in late December. Must have been the cool weather.
If you have the National Geographic channel, they have been doing a series at the zoo. Secrets of the Zoo:Tampa is now airing. It’s weird to recognize I place I go to so often on tv and it’s fun to see the behind the scenes there.
A mallard was stealing food from the primates.
I love seeing the marabou storks.
A wild egret high up in a tree.
One of the resident eagles who’s missing a wing sits high up in a tree as well. He hops along the big oak tree until he can see over the exhibit.
The lorikeets were flirting.
Beautiful faces in the aviaries.
The manatees were eating close to the glass. It was fun watching them up close but it’s sad that there are so many here right now rehabilitating in the manatee hospital Most of these guys will be released once they are well enough. Many are here due to boat strikes or getting sick from the cold water or red tide.
Lots of pretty flowers at the Naples Botanical Gardens.
Lots of little critters too.
Shots of the gardens during our long weekend in Naples for a staycation in late May.
The one picture I took at the Naples Zoo above. A statue of a turtle in the ocean made out of recycled plastic which was cool. I didn’t love the zoo. It was a few minutes from our hotel so we stopped in before lunch. I felt like you couldn’t see the animals very well based on how they had the exhibits set up. You had to wait in line to board a small boat to cruise around a small pond to see the primates. You couldn’t just walk around and view them. It was too hot to wait so we left. We are spoiled living so close the Tampa zoo which is soooo much better.
Same tree, different colors.
Just a small sampling of the lights and entertainment at Zoo Tampa during their “Christmas In the Wild” nights.
You could still see a lot of the animals in their homes. A few of the nocturnal animals that you rarely see moving during the day were also moving around.
The trees over the alligator exhibit were full of ibis, snowy egrets and great egrets sleeping. There were 100’s of them. It was pretty crazy to see them in the dark.
Afterward we stopped at our local Chik Fil A to get milkshakes, even though it was cold outside (Florida cold means it was 50 degrees).
Linking to Wednesday Around The World.
The one-eyed key deer that was rescued has a new home. Lots of room to roam around.
Only in the reptile area can you get this up close to a snake. Most of Florida’s snakes are non-venomous. They are good at keeping rodents at bay and a few are protected by law. Black racers seem to be the most common and we occasionally get one in our yard. Since many of our neighbors have fruit trees, the racers keep the fruit rats from over populating without having to use rat poisoning. I always keep my distance though.
These guys have taken over for the summer. The bushes are full of them and they will eat your plants and flowers down to the nubs.
It’s always fun to spend a few minutes watching the baby primates. That gibbon doesn’t seem to like the bugs. The baby colobus monkey in the bottom shot has lost all of his gray fuzz and now looks like a smaller version of the parents.
The new splash ride is now open and boy did that look tempting the morning I was there. Next time I’ll bring Brett so he can hold my stuff while I get soaked. Not sure who was having more fun, the people riding the ride or the people standing on the splash deck.
One last look at the baby blue herons growing up at the bird rookery at Zoo Tampa.
Linking to Wednesday Around the World.
Getting up close with some fun feathered friends at the Tampa zoo.
A wild blue heron was sitting on a nest. I was checking to see if any babies were hatched yet in early April in the rookery at the alligator exhibit at the zoo but all of the moms were still sitting on eggs.
Fun animals at Lowry Park Zoo. The zoo just changed it’s name to Zoo Tampa but I will always think of it as Lowry Park Zoo.
